Will COVID-19 end theatrical movies

[Kirby101]

People will not be going to movie theaters for a long time. It might be 5 to 6 months before theaters open again. In the meantime they will be getting their movie entertainment at home, from cable and streaming new films. I see one of three possibilities. 1) It all goes back to normal, with the number of movies and attendance back to pre-virus numbers. 2) People learn a different behavior and prefer to watch things at home, dropping the attendance at Cinemas. or 3) There is a great pent up demand, and people flock to the theater when this is over.
Other factors are how many theaters are left in business and how many people have jobs to afford to buy a ticket.

[Gaastra]

Drive in sales have skyrocketed.

[Joker]

At the very least, in the short term, yes.

I don't think anyone know how this is going to shake out long term, for any industry.

[Kirby101]

Drive in sales have skyrocketed.

Great, there are a little over 300 of them, and none in the city centers where the bulk of the regular theaters are. There are over 4000 theaters and 50,000 screens in the US. It's nice for them but meaningless to box office.

[Jim Kelly]

Is it responsible to encourage people to go to the drive-in? If I remember my 1950s tropes right, that's where all the teens would go to party, get high and have sex. A human petri dish.

[C_Miller]

Is it responsible to encourage people to go to the drive-in? If I remember my 1950s tropes right, that's where all the teens would go to party, get high and have sex. A human petri dish.

The tropes are probably pretty far from the truth. Frankly, we should absolutely encourage people to go to the drive in. It allows a perfect blend of community engagement with social distancing.

[Kirby101]

Is it responsible to encourage people to go to the drive-in? If I remember my 1950s tropes right, that's where all the teens would go to party, get high and have sex. A human petri dish.

Because those teens wouldn't hook up if they weren't at the Drive-In?

[Cyke]

At the very least, in the short term, yes.

I don't think anyone know how this is going to shake out long term, for any industry.

Yep. Though, I believe the theater industry will make a comeback, but maybe just not in a way we're expecting. Part of the appeal of seeing movies in a theater is the community-aspect in it, being able to share the experience with a lot of other people.

I really enjoyed Infinity War and Endgame, but I'm sure a huge chunk of that enjoyment came from everyone's collective reactions altogether during the best parts of the movies.

Because those teens wouldn't hook up if they weren't at the Drive-In?

Wherever there's a will, there's a way.

Life... finds a way.

[Powerboy]

Is it responsible to encourage people to go to the drive-in? If I remember my 1950s tropes right, that's where all the teens would go to party, get high and have sex. A human petri dish.

Indeed. An android once told me that cars and drive-ins were primary ingredients in teenaged mating rituals.

[AdamFTF]

Is it responsible to encourage people to go to the drive-in? If I remember my 1950s tropes right, that's where all the teens would go to party, get high and have sex. A human petri dish.

In my experience with the Malta Drive-In, it's usually families with cars full of kids going to see the latest Disney movies in a unique summer-time setting.

And that's something else we should consider. Whether maybe the function of movies as a social and family function outweighs the value of the film itself. Consider the cultural value of the movies as a first or second date location. Or family outings to the movies. Heck, I went to see most of the Marvel films with my parents and my aunt because it was a chance to get together with them when we're all rather busy people. I mean, we're probably not going to be able to keep social distancing going forever anyway. Humanity is a highly social species of primate.

[PD98]

People will not be going to movie theaters for a long time. It might be 5 to 6 months before theaters open again. In the meantime they will be getting their movie entertainment at home, from cable and streaming new films. I see one of three possibilities. 1) It all goes back to normal, with the number of movies and attendance back to pre-virus numbers. 2) People learn a different behavior and prefer to watch things at home, dropping the attendance at Cinemas. or 3) There is a great pent up demand, and people flock to the theater when this is over.
Other factors are how many theaters are left in business and how many people have jobs to afford to buy a ticket.

Once the worse of the pandemic is over in each country and the lockdowns are lifted people are going to go back to what they were doing before. After every pandemic or epidemic that terrified the populace slows down or ends outright life is going to go back to what it was like before, though some will be more aware of the importance of hygiene, we are already seeing China starting to return to normal with the theaters being expected to open as early as the end of the month. Don't believe me that world will return to normal once the lockdowns and state of emergencies end, even though the 2003 SARS outbreak was traced to the wildlife trade and the Chinese government outlawed the trade during the outbreak, they wasted little time making it legal again once it was over; if a new virus won't stop in the long run the industry that largely caused it to enter the human system in the first place why would it stop people from going back to the movies once the theatres are opened again, just like amusement parks, concerts, sporting events, festivals, restaurants, etc. once people are able to go back there people are going to go (either right away or when they feel safe) unless they are people who just never liked being around other people in the first place and never had a desire to go outside.
Personally, I will always prefer the theatre because there are fewer distractions (so as long as you got a good audience) to take you out of the movie, you stay in the moment of the movie because you can't pause or rewind to think or talk about it.

[TriggerWarning]

Once the worse of the pandemic is over in each country and the lockdowns are lifted people are going to go back to what they were doing before. After every pandemic or epidemic that terrified the populace slows down or ends outright life is going to go back to what it was like before,

I don't think it will. A lot of people are going to be financially ruined by this. So even when things could return to normal it won't because people won't be able to afford entertainment.

[Kieran_Frost]

People will not be going to movie theaters for a long time. It might be 5 to 6 months before theaters open again. In the meantime they will be getting their movie entertainment at home, from cable and streaming new films. I see one of three possibilities. 1) It all goes back to normal, with the number of movies and attendance back to pre-virus numbers. 2) People learn a different behavior and prefer to watch things at home, dropping the attendance at Cinemas. or 3) There is a great pent up demand, and people flock to the theater when this is over.
Other factors are how many theaters are left in business and how many people have jobs to afford to buy a ticket.

Short answer: no.

In the UK we've shut restaurants... doesn't mean everyone's going to realise how good cooking at home is; the moment they open again people will be back. It's not a habit that a (very unusual set of circumstances) will change.

[Kirby101]

I don't think restaurants and theaters are parallel. For many reasons.

[Kieran_Frost]

I don't think restaurants and theaters are parallel. For many reasons.

Why not? Both are luxuries that nobody actually "needs"; but they do it because they enjoy it. You can eat and watch a movie at home. People choose not to, and they will continue to choose not to once self-isolation is over.